Gérard Gourgue (; 1 December 1925 – 4 December 2020) was a Haitian politician and human rights activist. He ran for

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

References

Gourgue completed his secondary studies at the Lycée Alexandre Pétion in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( ; ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Haiti, most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 1,200,000 in 2022 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The me ...

. He continued his university studies in

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

and in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He started his career as a lawyer, participating in the Bar of Port-au-Prince. Faced with

Tonton Macoute The Tonton Macoute () or simply the Macoute, was a Haitian paramilitary and secret police force created in 1959 by dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Haitians named this force after the Haitian mythological bogeyman, (" Uncle Gunnysa ...

militants, he created the Ligue haïtienne des droits humains. He led the organization until 1986. On 7 February 1986, after the fall of the regime of

Jean-Claude Duvalier Jean-Claude Duvalier (; 3 July 19514 October 2014), nicknamed "Baby Doc" (, ), was a Haitian dictator who held the presidency of Haiti from 1971 until he was overthrown by a popular uprising in February 1986. He succeeded his father François ...

, Gourgue was called to the National Council of Government by

Henri Namphy Henri Namphy (; 2 October 1932 – 26 June 2018) was a Haitian general and political figure who served as President of Haiti's interim ruling body, the National Council of Government, from 7 February 1986 to 7 February 1988. He served again as P ...

. However, he resigned after 41 days due to divisive disagreements with the ruling regime. In 1988, he ran for president under the

Fanmi Lavalas Fanmi Lavalas (; ''lavalas'' is Haitian Creole for 'avalanche' or 'flood' ) is a social-democratic political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 199 ...

label. However, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

intervened allowing Namphy to continue his rule. After the 2000 Haitian parliamentary election, Gourgue served as honorary president until

Jean-Bertrand Aristide Jean-Bertrand Aristide (; born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991 before being deposed in a coup d'état. As a priest, he taught liberation theo ...

was sworn in, in February 2001. In 2004, Gourgue was appointed as ambassador of Haiti to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

and personal representative of Provisional President Boniface Alexandre. He also represented Haiti at the

Organisation internationale de la Francophonie The (OIF; sometimes shortened to ''La Francophonie'', , sometimes also called International Organisation of in English) is an international organization representing where there is a notable affiliation with French language and culture. ...

. On 11 June 2009, Gourgue participated in the Haitian book festival ''Livres en Folie'' at the Parc Historique de la Canne à Sucre. Following the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

, he was involved in the ''Plan stratégique de sauvetage national''. Gérard Gourgue died in Port-au-Prince on 4 December 2020 at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gourgue, Gerard 1925 births 2020 deaths Candidates for President of Haiti Government ministers of Haiti 20th-century Haitian lawyers People from Port-au-Prince Haitian expatriates in France 20th-century Haitian politicians